Perception: what it is in simple words, examples and types, factors

• October 10, 2018
• Psychological terms
• Sergey Kostyuchenko Zhelyazkov

Perceptivity is a reflection of reality situations, in which much depends on the individual. Such a display is necessary to form an image of objects. As for psychology, this phenomenon allows us to understand how a person sees a problem and what conclusions he draws as a result of communicating with people around him.

Basic Concepts

Perceptivity is a basic biological process of the human psyche. This function is acquired through the senses, which take part in the formation of a complete image of objects. Perception influences the analyzers through a series of sensations caused by perception.

It is also worth saying that perceptivity is a popular subject of study among psychologists. After all, such a reflection of reality allows us to form a full-fledged image of a certain phenomenon in the human mind.

Errors in perception (illusions)

There is nothing perfect in the world, and perception is no exception. For various reasons, this process can “fail” and give the individual erroneous images that do not correspond to reality.

There are two types of such violations:

1. illusions are a perverted perception of existing objects and phenomena. Illusions, in turn, are: affectogenic - they are caused by feelings and emotions. For example, an anxious person may see an approaching maniac or monster in the shadow of a tree, hear a threat in someone else’s speech, a shy person will see criticism and shaming everywhere;
2. pareidolic - the emergence of fantastic images when interacting with reality (blood in a glass instead of water, beetles instead of dirt stains). This type of illusion is a precursor to hallucinations.

Varieties of perception

Psychologists classify perception depending on the sensory organ involved as follows:

• Visual perceptivity is a type of perception in which the eyes make saccadic movements - this is how people process the information they have received. When eye movement stops, visual perception begins. This type of perception is influenced by previously developed stereotypes. For example, when a person is used to skimming a text, it will be difficult for him to fully process the material being studied. He may not notice large paragraphs, and if asked, he will say that they were not in the book.
• Auditory perceptivity in psychology is a method of perception in which the melodic and phonemic system plays an important role. In this case, motor components are involved (they are separated into a separate full-fledged system - for example, singing a melody allows you to develop an ear for music).

There are also the following types of perception, in which information is reflected through understanding rather than through the senses. This is the perception of direction and distance of objects that are located at a distance, and the perception of time, that is, the sequence and speed of events.

The essence of the perception of time is that all people have different internal clocks. Often they do not coincide with circadian rhythms. To perceive such rhythms, a person uses additional analyzers.

Interaction with society through perception

Interaction with society through perception occurs as follows:

• Imperative communication. This is the desire to subjugate, establish control, and use various kinds of manipulation. This is an unveiled desire to coerce. This type of communication is sometimes justified, for example, statutory relations, extreme situations.
• If there are hidden motives in perception, then comes the turn of manipulation, the task of which is to hide the true reasons, replace them if necessary, and also achieve control over both the person and the situation. A communication partner is perceived only as a means to an end. In general, the manipulator is characterized by cruelty, apathy, and loss of interest in life. The teaching profession is partly manipulative, since the teacher needs to motivate and teach the lesson as interesting as possible. Such an attitude can have a detrimental effect on the interpersonal perceptions of the teacher and other people.
• Dialogue. Dialogue is a real equal interaction with society through perception; it is a fixation on another person, on his interests.

Analysis of communication and interaction with society through perception is diverse and multifunctional. It is important for every person and society as a whole. The structure of such interaction does not end with perception, it is also communication and interactivity. Perception is getting to know each other, establishing interpersonal relationships, exchanging emotions and ideas, which can be called feedback.

The concept of perception is a whole process in psychology by which we pay attention to some stimuli in our environment and not others. Because it is impossible to pay attention to all the stimuli the brain presents, the mind has an amazing unconscious ability to choose what is important and what is not.

Author: Elena Gupta

Social perception

The development and emergence of human interaction is possible subject to mutual understanding. It is important that people understand not only those around them, but also their own personality. This is possible due to the processes of communication and relationships formed between people during the conversation. It is also important to consider the methods used to implement collaborative activities.

A mandatory component of communication is the process of cognition. This component is the perceptual aspect of communication. Scientists consider social perception to be an important and serious phenomenon in psychology. For the first time such a definition was introduced by D. Bruner (he formed a different view on human perception of various subjects).

The concept of perception in psychology

Definition 1
Perception is a cognitive process of direct active reflection by a person of various phenomena, objects, events, situations. If this cognition is aimed at social objects, then the phenomenon is called social perception.

The mechanisms of social perception can be observed every day in our daily lives. Mention of perception was already found in the ancient world. Philosophers, physiologists, artists, and physicists made a huge contribution to the development of this concept. But psychology attaches the greatest importance to this concept.

Perception is an important mental function of cognition, which manifests itself as a complex process of transforming and receiving sensory information. Through perception, the individual forms a complete image of the object, which affects the analyzers.

Are you an expert in this subject area? We invite you to become the author of the Directory Working Conditions

Thus, perception is a unique form of sensory mapping.

Mechanisms of perception

Social perceptivity is the determination of the feelings of the interlocutor. The mechanism is simple: a person interacts with the interlocutor as a person (this is how his interlocutors perceive him).

Communication is an important mechanism. Its essence is that the interlocutors are trying to understand each other. Communication is mediated not only by the presence of a system for understanding information, but also by the characteristics of the interlocutor’s perception.

Communication implies the presence of interpersonal perception, that is, the development of first impressions about the interlocutor. Therefore, psychologists identify several mechanisms of perception, which are specific methods that involve assessing and analyzing the behavior of the interlocutor. The most common mechanisms are identification, causal attribution and social reflection.

As for casual attribution, its essence is in analyzing the reaction to the behavior of the interlocutor, that is, a person makes assumptions about why his interlocutor behaves this way and not otherwise. In this case, a person is based on the similarity of the interlocutor’s behavior with people with whom he communicated before, or uses his own experience.

Causal attribution uses the principle of analogy. It depends on how the person assessing the interlocutor’s behavior perceives himself. The essence of identification is that a person tries to understand the interlocutor, making an assumption about what his state of mind is, trying to put himself in the place of the one with whom he is communicating.

Identification allows you to understand the interlocutor’s values, behavior and habits. It has a special meaning in adolescence and youth, because during this period the relationship between the teenager (youth) and society is created.

Social reflection refers to the process and result of a person’s self-perception. The main tool of social reflection is a person’s understanding of his personal characteristics. He tries to understand how they are expressed in reaction to the behavior of the interlocutor, and how others perceive them.

The essence of empathy is that a person empathizes with the interlocutor and tries to understand his internal state. Empathy is based on understanding the experiences of the interlocutor, as well as understanding how he evaluates what is happening. Empathy is an important professional trait of a teacher or psychologist.

Characteristics and properties of perception

This process has the following main indicators:

• determination of individual parameters;
• tactful data absorption;
• formation of an accurate sensory image of perception.

Perception is in close collaboration with logic, thinking, attention and memory. It is determined by the stimulation of the individual and has an emotional coloring of a specific type.

Note 1

The main characteristics of perception are: structure, apperception, materiality, contextuality, rationality, awareness.

Making a first impression

Psychologists identify the following factors that determine what impression is formed about a person:

• Superiority is usually observed when a person who is superior to his interlocutor is also highly rated on other characteristics. The result is a revision of the person being assessed. This factor primarily depends on the insecure behavior of the observer. So in extreme situations, many people trust those whom they would not have dared to approach before.
• Attractiveness explains the properties of perception for an interlocutor whose external characteristics are attractive. The main error of perception in this case is that people often overestimate the psychological properties of a person who looks attractive.
• The “attitude” factor implies that a person perceives the interlocutor depending on how he treats him. The main mistake here is the tendency to overestimate the interlocutor who agrees with an opinion or is friendly.

The structure of perceptual action

Any process consists of individual operations - actions. The quality of the result depends on whether they are arranged in the correct sequence and performed without errors.

The process of perception includes a number of perceptual actions, this is due to the fact that a person needs:

Perceptual action is several operations to transform sensory information.

Detection—detects the presence of a cognitive stimulus.

Discrimination - a perceptual standard is formed.

Next, the identification process takes place based on such actions as comparison and identification. The received image is compared with the one in memory and belongs to a certain class of objects, that is, it is categorized.

Mastering perceptual actions is a very difficult and lengthy process for a person, requiring special training.

Development of perceptual skills

According to psychologists, a simple smile is enough for friendly communication and mutual sympathy. To develop perceptual skills, psychologists recommend learning to smile. Facial expressions provide information about a person’s feelings, so if you learn to control them, you can improve your perceptual skills.

Ekman's technique will allow you to learn to distinguish manifestations of emotions and improve perception skills. Its essence is that three zones can be distinguished on the face (forehead and eyes, mouth and chin, and nose). It is in these zones that the manifestation of basic emotions (sadness, joy, fear, and so on) is noted.

The essence of interpersonal perception

Interpersonal perception when it comes to how people interact with each other becomes a key point. This is real communication and practical interaction, exchange of experiences and impressions.

The observing psychologist needs to identify the primary and secondary roles for carrying out the analysis; the methods have already been developed:

• positive emotions - agreement and solidarity;
• negative emotions – denial, creation of tension;
• problem statement – ​​request to express an opinion, provide arguments;
• her solution is a compromise, focusing on the opinions of others.

Whether the conversation was constructive will depend on the participants' interpersonal perception.

There may also be a conflict. The conflict, if it is also acute, is associated with interests that will be incompatible between the parties to interpersonal communication and will most likely be insurmountable. Much depends on the details, whether the dispute arose at the level of intrapersonal, interpersonal or intergroup conflict, and how objective everything is.

A few words about role principles of behavior

Separately, it is worth mentioning the role principles of behavior. Thus, the role principle of perceptivity is that a person’s role should be positively perceived by his interlocutors, and he, in turn, should positively perceive their interests.

The principle of interactivity is that the fulfillment of a certain role by a person in society should simplify the regulation of the behavior of his interlocutors by influencing his goals and motives. Just like the role principle of perceptivity, it implies that the interests of the interlocutor must be taken into account.

Human psyche as a system, its structure, components and elements

2.1. Psyche and body. Brain and psyche

Psyche

(from ancient Greek, spiritual) - the ability of a subject to actively reflect objective reality, which arose as a result of the interaction of highly organized living beings with the outside world.

Basic functions of the psyche:

• reflection of the surrounding world;
• ensuring the integrity of the body;
• regulation of behavior.

The integrative function of the psyche is to ensure the body’s adaptation to environmental conditions.

The psyche is the result of the complex activity of the nervous system, the structural and functional unit of which is the neuron (nerve cell).

Neuron
(
from ancient Greek fiber
)
is an electrically excitable cell that processes and transmits information through electrical and chemical signals.

Rice.
2.1. Neuron structure

Each neuron consists of a cell body (or soma

), which contains the cell nucleus.
From the cell body of a neuron grow dendrites
(short branches that receive nerve impulses going to the neuron) and
an axon
(a long thin tubular process that transmits nerve impulses from the neuron).

Neurons form chemical or functional connections with other neurons, making up a neural network

(eng. biological neural network);
points of conjugation (contact) of neurons in the network are called synapses
.

Stimulation of excitatory synapses causes a nerve impulse

, running along the axon.
Signals travel from one neuron to another through a complex electrochemical reaction. The transmission of signals from the sense organs to the brain and spinal cord is carried out by sensory neurons
, and from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glands by
motor neurons
.

Nerve

- a sheathed bundle of axons in the peripheral nervous system, which is the path for electrochemical nerve impulses transmitted along each of the axons to the peripheral organs.

Nervous system

humans and mammals consists of
a central nervous system
(
brain
and
spinal cord
) and
a peripheral nervous system
(cranial and spinal nerves, nerve plexuses).

Peripheral nervous system

consists of
the somatic nervous system

and
from the sensory organs, muscles, skin, and
the autonomic
nervous
system
, which regulates the activity of internal organs, glands, blood and lymph vessels.

Brain

- the center of the nervous system, the physiological functions of which are to centrally control all other organs of the body. The brain consists of the central brainstem, limbic system and cerebrum.

Rice.
2.2. Main parts of the brain (cross section)

To the central trunk

relate:

• medulla oblongata
  , whose functions include protective reflexes (coughing, sneezing, swallowing, vomiting), vital reflexes (breathing), regulation of vascular tone;
• cerebellum
  , whose functions are coordination of movements, regulation of balance and muscle tone, muscle memory;
• thalamus
  , responsible for the redistribution of incoming sensory information (with the exception of smell) to the cerebral cortex;
• hypothalamus
  , which regulates all body functions (except heart rate, blood pressure and spontaneous respiratory movements), as well as human emotions and behavior.

Reticular formation

(from Latin rete - network) - a structure consisting of more than 100 small neural networks of the brain stem and upper spinal cord that filters incoming sensory information and transmits it to the limbic system and cerebral cortex.

The limbic system located within the thalamus

participates in the regulation of the functions of smell and internal organs, controls instinctive behavioral reactions, emotions, memory, and plays an important role in learning.

Big brain

(cerebrum) consists of two
cerebral hemispheres
, covered with a convoluted
cortex
, which plays a key role in the implementation of higher mental functions - memory, attention, perception, thinking, language and consciousness.

Left hemisphere

The brain specializes in expressive and impressive speech, reading, writing, verbal memory, verbal and abstract thinking, is focused on forecasting,
the right
is responsible for visual-spatial orientation, non-verbal memory, and specific figurative thinking.

Vegetative

(
autonomic
)
nervous system
consists of two systems:

• sympathetic
  , which mobilizes the body’s nervous system in stressful situations, increasing metabolism and increasing tissue excitability;
• parasympathetic
  , whose functions are associated with actions that do not require an immediate reaction (salivation, lacrimation, urination, digestion, defecation).

The autonomic nervous system plays an important role in emotional reactions because its fibers mediate the functioning of smooth muscles and glands. Endocrine glands

(
endocrine glands
) synthesize and release hormones into the bloodstream that affect emotional state and motivation.

The human psyche is influenced by heredity

.
The molecular unit of heredity of a living organism is genes
- sections of DNA and RNA that store information about the creation and maintenance of body cells and transmit genetic characteristics to offspring.

Note to parents

Forming a system of perceptual actions in a child is primarily the concern of parents. Firstly, they need to closely monitor the health of the baby’s sensory organs, otherwise their insufficient functioning will make it difficult to perceive the features of objects of cognition. Secondly, one should not rely only on educators and teachers: the development of perceptual actions is one of the goals of family education in the early stages of a child’s life. To do this, we need to help him thoroughly examine objects (what they sound like, how they are structured, what parts they are made of, what they feel, taste and smell), teach him how to operate them, and enrich his vocabulary with nouns (what is this?), adjectives (which one? ), verbs (what does it do?).

Children should be shown pictures and techniques of drawing, modeling, design, and practice comparing objects according to different parameters.

The main method of teaching toddlers and young children is play. Children love playing and doing activities together with their parents. Emotional substantive communication with them stimulates the child’s development of perceptual actions.

Source

Sensory-perceptual processes

Perceptive is the perceiver, to put it another way. Perception is cognition and ultimately the formation in the mind of a holistic image of an object or environmental phenomenon. It should be said right away that direct sensations and perceptions differ from each other. Despite the fact that without individual sensations that arise as a result of the action of reality on the sense organs (sensors), perception could not exist, it is not limited to them.

Sensations create the base, but perceptual is a qualitatively different process, more active and meaningful. For example, you can compare how you can simply hear sounds and listen carefully, see and purposefully look, watch someone or something.